Israel Detains British Aid Worker Held at Checkpoint

A British worker for a Birmingham-based Islamic charity has been arrested by Israeli military authorities, and further detained without charge at two hearings yesterday.

Ayaz Ali, from Bradford, was on his way from Jerusalem to Ramallah, on business of the Islamic Relief charity, when he was arrested at a checkpoint in Modain, on the Israeli side of the partition wall but in the West Bank, on the night of May 9.

At first, he was held under Israeli law, but this was changed to detention under military law in the occupied territories, meaning that Mr Ali's rights are considerably reduced.

He could face military charges in a military court, and be kept in military detention centres. Although not charged, Israeli authorities cite 'security reasons' for detaining Mr Ali at the Ashkelon military prison.

Announcing his detention yesterday, Islamic Relief insisted that Mr Ali's mission was humanitarian, and denied he had any connection with illegal activities. "Islamic Relief is deeply concerned for Ayaz's welfare," said the charity. "He was only involved in charitable work and in no way is he or Islamic Relief linked to any criminal or suspect activity. Islamic Relief is also concerned that Ayaz is being held under West Bank military law despite being arrested under Israeli law".

But the Israeli supreme court yesterday ruled that Mr Ali must remain a detainee under military law, before a second, afternoon hearing ordered that he remain in custody for another 10 days for questioning, but without charge.

A British Consulate official was allowed to visit Mr Ali five days after his arrest and to attend yesterday's hearings. A spokesman for the Foreign Office said:"Consul staff have offered assistance. We cannot speculate about the reasons for his arrest, but we are seeking clarification from the Israelis". The consulate had raised the matter with the office of the Israeli prime minister.

Mr Ali joined Islamic Relief five years ago, and was formerly the charity's advocacy director, promoting its humanitarian work. He began working in the Palestinian Territories in December 2005.

His wife joined him, but is now back in England, eight months pregnant, with Mr Ali was due to leave the Middle East to join her for the birth and maternity leave on June 1.

Islamic Relief praised Mr Ali's "interest in humanitarian projects and particular passion for working on projects that would help disadvantaged children lead a normal life". He ran Islamic Relief's education programmes, with special emphasis on traumatised children.

Its president Hany El Banna said: "I was shocked to hear the news and am at a loss to understand why Ayaz has been arrested. Unfortunately, aid workers are an easy target as we have seen in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. We are concerned that incidents like this prevent humanitarian field workers from carrying out their duties".